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The band Kansas had many hits during its peak from 1976-86, but "Dust in the Wind" is different.

The song, which reached No. 6 on the Billboard magazine singles chart in 1978, has become a genuine rock 'n' roll classic, inarguably one of the biggest hits for a band from the progressive rock genre.

In a recent phone interview from his home in Atlanta, guitarist and founding member Rich Williams said the "song is bigger than we are," relating conversations he had with people who didn't know Kansas, but still knew the song.

"When people know the song and not the band, the song is much bigger than you at that point," he said. "Everybody knows that song. We're grateful for it.

"(On stage) I get to start that song, and after the first note everybody in the place knows exactly what it is, and it gets a great response. I would hope I never get so jaded that I would grumble through that experience. It's a great thing to be a part of."

Kansas -- which also had hits with the songs "Carry On My Wayward Son," "Point of Know Return," "Play the Game Tonight" and "All I Wanted" -- has managed to maintain a career for more than four decades thanks to those early hits and a dedicated fan base that keeps turning out to see the group perform.

Williams said the group's "tenacity" is a big part of its staying power, as many of the bands of that era simply faded away.

"We're masters of our own destiny," he said. "We're in a good position where we get to pick and choose the shows we want to play when the offers come in. It's a lot of fun and we decided quite a while ago that if we want to continue to do this, we have to keep it fun.

"A lot of bands fade away because they just quit doing it. This is what I do. I love doing this. It's not a chore, it's a labor of love, and there's not anything else I want to do."

Kansas keeps up a busy touring schedule -- the band headlines the Milford Oyster Festival Saturday, Aug. 18 -- and Williams estimates they do about 80 shows each year, including some with local symphonies that double as fundraisers for those organizations.

"I made peace with the travel a long time ago," Williams said, referring to the downside of touring. "But even if you're stupid, you figure out ways to make it easier after a while.

"If I leave Friday morning, I'm home Sunday, and I'll be home for the week. That's the model that we aim for, although it doesn't always work that way. But for the most part, that's how it works. There's always a weekend to look forward to, and there's plenty of time for a home life."

Kansas -- which also includes singer-keyboardist Steve Walsh, drummer Phil Ehart, bassist Billy Greer and violinist David Ragsdale -- hasn't put out an album of originals in more than a decade, but occasionally they find a project they deem worthy of recording for posterity.

One such project was "There's Know Place Like Home," a CD and DVD of a 2009 concert that included appearances by ex-members Kerry Livgren (who wrote many of the band's best-known songs) and Steve Morse.

"We had been playing symphony dates for a while, and with the 35th anniversary coming around we thought we should document it somehow," Williams said. "When we looked into going back to Topeka, Kan., where we got our start, the project started to make a lot more sense.

"To make it something special for the fans -- and Kerry had long ago moved back to Kansas -- we wanted to have Kerry involved in this. And while we were at it, we called Steve Morse to see what he was up to and he jumped on it right away. It added something extra to the package."